Returning from a classified military assignment, I found my five-year-old daughter kneeling on the cold floor. A strange woman stood over her, saying, “This is the only way spoiled children learn.” She didn’t know I was a special operations officer, and she was about to find out…

dawning sense of profound unease. They had likely tracked my vehicle’s GPS—a fatal, amateur error I had allowed them to make.

“Inform them they have exactly five minutes,” I instructed.

Agent Stevens blinked, confused. “Five minutes to vacate the premises, ma’am?”

“No,” I replied, a glacial smile pulling at the corners of my mouth. “Five minutes to take continue reading …